George Whittell had a life-long fascination with the latest technology of the day, particularly that which manifested itself in aircraft, automobiles and boats.Among the many he owned were a Douglas DC-2 airliner, outfitted in luxury for his private use; a Grumman Goose amphibious airplane, five of the most uncommon Duesenberg motorcars, a 145' pleasure yacht named Elia, and the legendary 55' speedboat, Thunderbird.
The latter is certainly one of the most unique and elegant wooden vessels crafted in the Twentieth century and is as much a work of art as a means of transportation.
Commissioned by Whittell specifically for Lake Tahoe while he was building his fabulous estate there, the Thunderbird was designed by famed naval architect John L. Hacker and built by Huskin Boat and Motor Works in Bay City, Michigan.
Enamored by the art-deco styling of the era, it is said that Whittell asked Hacker to incorporate the lines of his DC-2—also named Thunderbird—and Duesenbergs. Fashioned of double-planked mahogany and having brushed stainless steel cabins, the new acquisition enabled Whittell to get about Lake Tahoe with unmatched style and speed.
Originally outfitted with twin 550-horsepower Kermath V-12 Sea-Raider engines, the vessel could cruise at more than 50 knots. To accommodate the Thunderbird its notoriously reclusive owner ordered the construction of a 100-foot long enclosed boathouse with 600-foot tunnel that would connect it to the main residence, both blasted out of solid granite.
Shipped by rail and completed at a cost of $87,000 (over $3.3 million in today's dollars), Whittell took delivery of Thunderbird at Mayfield’s (Tahoe City Marina) in 1940.
For the first time that year, she crossed the Lake to her new home in the pre-dawn hours of July 14th. The aging sportsman cruised extensively that summer and the next, shuttling friends and supplies from nearby communities and showgirls from the Cal-Neva casino for lavish parties at his estate.
Following the U.S. entry into World War II, possibly afraid that his beloved yacht or its engines might be conscripted into military service, Whittell hid her away in Lodge's boathouse.
Whittell became even more reclusive as he entered his seventies. His yacht was seen so infrequently that it seemed to some who caught a glimpse to be nothing more than an apparition.
When Whittell broke his hip late in life and refused surgery to repair the fracture, he was confined to a wheelchair and unable or unwilling to use Thunderbird.
Resting idly in the boathouse for many years, Thunderbird was rescued by casino magnate and car collector William F. Harrah who purchased her from Whittell in 1962 along with two Duesenberg autos.
Harrah rotated the vessel between his Skyland, Lake Tahoe villa; restoration shops in Sparks, Nevada; and winter storage at the Whittell boathouse.
Harrah’s workmen added a matching stainless steel superstructure and replaced the original Kermath engines with vintage WWII fighter aircraft engines: these V-12 Allison V-1710 motors develop 1100 horsepower each.
Harrah called Thunderbird his “70-mile-per-hour cocktail lounge” and frequently entertained showroom headliners aboard including Tony Bennett, Sammy Davis, Jr., Liberace, and Bill Cosby, to name a few.
Harrah was meticulous and, each year, his team sanded down the wooden hull and applied ten new coats of varnish!
Thunderbird is now owned by Foundation 36, a Nevada public charity founded by casino entrepreneur Bill Watson for the purpose of saving Nevada’s historic and cultural treasures. Tahoe’s most famous yacht still operates and serves as a cruising classroom to educate the public about Lake Tahoe’s rich maritime heritage and fragile marine environment.
When she is in port, Thunderbird resides in her original boathouse and may be viewed as you tour the Thunderbird Lodge estate.
